CAPTAIN RANDOM: October 2008

The girlfriend and I decided we desperately needed to get away from our busy lives and destressify (if that’s a word). So we escaped to northern Minnesota this past weekend. Destination ... Grand Marais (a sleepy little town on the shores of Lake Superior).

Friday
- We set out on our 5 hr trip up north and said goodbye to the city

- Stopped for lunch at Pizza Luche in Duluth. We had the worst service and waiter of our lives. I was convinced our waiter ‘Cheech’ was high on more than just life. He made us wait about an hour for our food only to give the wrong order “meat” to a vegetarian (Mary), of which we waited another 20 mins for them to get our order right. After giving the waiter a piece of my mind I decided I won’t be going back there ... EVER again!! Smok'em if you got 'em! Our waiter did.

- Made a stop at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park to get a bunch of pictures. Childhood memories came flooding back from when I was a little kid exploring the lighthouse and causing all kinds of trouble. I took a zillion and two pictures.

- We finally reach our destination ... Grand Marais, MN. Woo hoo! We checked into our hotel and it’s off to the Gun Flint Tavern for some eats. Good food!

Saturday
- Woke up around 8AM and grabbed a hotel breakfast. A host of bizarre characters awaited us in the line for the sub-par feast.Some of which are creepy, others smelly, and a few that should skip a meal or two. I down an English muffin and some granola and we set off on our day.

- First destination of the day … Judge C R Magney State Park. I’m was really excited to break out the DSLR camera and the tripod and take a bunch of pictures. We set out and got our hike on and finally reached our destination … Devil’s Kettle Falls. It’s an absolutely beautiful hike overlooking miles of river valley and you come to a huge beautiful water fall. A great hike!

- We come back to Grand Marais for some lunch and eat at Sven and Ole’s Pizza Tavern. After seeing all the bumper stickers over the years and hearing people talk about it .. it’s not at all what I expected. A pretty small unassuming place. However, Sven and Ole’s had really good pizza so I can’t complain.

- After lunch we explore Grand Marais’ shops for a while and then set out for another state park ... Cascade River State Park.

- Cascade River State Park. I bust out the camera and tripod (much to Mary’s delight) and we set out to hike to the Cascade Falls. Absolutely beautiful hike. 2 waterfalls and a billion pictures later we head back to Grand Marais.

- More exploring in Grand Marais. Sites include lighthouses, coast guard tug boat, random shops, and dinner at the Gun Flint Tavern.

Sunday
- After breakfast, we pack up and set off back for home.

- We decide to stop off at Tettegouche State Park for some last hiking and waterfall picture opportunities. If you get the chance the ‘High Falls’ is a nice hike and really beautiful. Just beware the hordes of Boy Scout troops lurking around … they are everywhere and annoying.

- Back on the road with lots of traffic. We stop off for some lunch in Two Harbors.

- 5 hours of driving, being cut off a couple of times, and a little road rage later we are finally home. The weekend went by too fast.

All in all, it was a great little trip and chance to get away. Like I said I can’t resist the opportunity to take a zillion pictures. So you can see them all by clicking here. Or there are a few selects below. Enjoy!